Copy Boy: A Jane Benjamin Novel
Jul 2025 · Simon and Schuster
3.5star
2 reviewsreport
Ebook
264
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About this ebook
"This is Raymond Chandler for feminists." ―Sharma Shields, author of The Cassandra
"An expressive and striking story that examines what one does for family and for oneself." ― Kirkus Reviews
Jane's a very brave boy. And a very difficult girl. She'll become a remarkable woman, an icon of her century, but that's a long way off.
Not my fault, she thinks, dropping a bloody crowbar in the irrigation ditch after Daddy. She steals Momma's Ford and escapes to Depression-era San Francisco, where she fakes her way into work as a newspaper copy boy.
Everything's looking up. She's climbing the ladder at the paper, winning validation, skill, and connections with the artists and thinkers of her day. But then Daddy reappears on the paper's front page, his arm around a girl who's just been beaten into a coma one block from Jane's newspaper―hit in the head with a crowbar.
Jane's got to find Daddy before he finds her, and before everyone else finds her out. She's got to protect her invented identity. This is what she thinks she wants. It's definitely what her dead brother wants.
"An expressive and striking story that examines what one does for family and for oneself." ― Kirkus Reviews
Jane's a very brave boy. And a very difficult girl. She'll become a remarkable woman, an icon of her century, but that's a long way off.
Not my fault, she thinks, dropping a bloody crowbar in the irrigation ditch after Daddy. She steals Momma's Ford and escapes to Depression-era San Francisco, where she fakes her way into work as a newspaper copy boy.
Everything's looking up. She's climbing the ladder at the paper, winning validation, skill, and connections with the artists and thinkers of her day. But then Daddy reappears on the paper's front page, his arm around a girl who's just been beaten into a coma one block from Jane's newspaper―hit in the head with a crowbar.
Jane's got to find Daddy before he finds her, and before everyone else finds her out. She's got to protect her invented identity. This is what she thinks she wants. It's definitely what her dead brother wants.
Ratings and reviews
3.5
2 reviews
Amy Campbell
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August 24, 2020
Copy Boy is the debut of the talents from Shelley Blanton Stroud. I thought it was a good read. It has a little bit of a different writing style. The story and plot were unique, as well. It is not one that I not one I would have been able to predict it at all. It was slow at times, but would quickly pick back up and keep my attention. Jane’s story was entertaining. I was not sure what to think of the character at first but halfway through they were able to grow on me. I liked the historical details of the 1930s era. There was some mystery and suspense that I found to be engaging, especially there at the end of the book. I had the pleasure of listening to the audio of Copy Boy. April Doty’s narration of this version of the book was phenomenal. Her performance was fabulous and did a fantastic job brining this story to life. I would love to hear more books that she has narrated in the past. I am giving Shelley Blanton Stroud’s Copy Boy three and a half stars. I would be interested in reading more by this author in the future. I recommend it for readers who enjoy early to mid twentieth century American historical fiction with a thrilling twist. It is most definitely not one to miss and worth a read. I received Copy Boy from the publisher. This review is one hundred percent my own honest opinion.
About the author
Shelley Blanton-Stroud grew up in California's Central Valley, the daughter of Dust Bowl immigrants who made good on their ambition to get out of the field. Recently retired from teaching writing in Northern California, she continues to consult with writers in the energy industry. She has served as President of the Board of 916 Ink, an arts-based creative writing nonprofit for children, and serves on the Board of Advisors for the Gould Center for Humanistic Studies at Claremont McKenna College. She previously co-directed Stories on Stage Sacramento, where actors perform the stories of established and emerging authors. Her historical mystery series—Copy Boy, Tomboy, and Poster Girl—follows Jane Benjamin, a cross-dressing, tomato-picking, San Francisco gossip columnist who investigates crime stories that never make the front page in 1930s and '40s Northern California. Her fourth novel, An Unlikely Prospect, features a new protagonist in the same world. She and her husband live in Sacramento, California.
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